Behavior Education

09/05/2026

Good Day, Friends,

What happens when we stop thinking of horses simply as animals responding to the world around them and start asking what they might actually be thinking?

A 2024 study highlighted by the BBC offers an intriguing answer: horses appear capable of planning ahead and changing their behavior based on what they learn.

Researchers tested horses with a problem-solving task involving a reward. At first, the horses could receive a reward for completing the task. Then, the researchers introduced a condition in which completing the task at the wrong time meant the horse would lose the reward. Rather than continuing to act the same way, the horses changed their behavior when the rules changed — suggesting they were able to take the consequences of their actions into account.

That may sound intuitive to anyone who has spent time around horses. But scientifically demonstrating these abilities adds to a growing body of research challenging the idea that animals simply respond to stimuli without memory, foresight, decision-making, or an understanding of their surroundings.

Horses are social animals capable of learning, remembering, communicating and making choices. The more we understand about their cognitive abilities and emotional lives, the more thoughtfully we should consider how our decisions affect them.

Animal welfare begins with taking animals seriously — not only as living beings, but as individuals with their own experiences of the world.

This is a fascinating read about what science is teaching us about the minds of horses.

Read the BBC story: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy4j4kkxd8o

09/03/2026

https://youtu.be/sfkAYocFnsM?is=dE3vCm-3Ta1_5vXK

Welcome to Behavior Education, this footage was filmed on August 30...

09/02/2026

The horse world is so far behind. It’s sad.

How far behind modern zoos is the horse world?

Modern zoological institutions increasingly utilise the science of animal behaviour and learning to inform how they care for and train the animals under their responsibility.

Rather than relying primarily on the outdated concepts such as dominance hierarchies, "being the leader" or escalating aversive pressure until an animal complies, contemporary animal training programmes increasingly focus on understanding how behaviour is learned, how the environment affects behaviour and, importantly, how training impacts the animal's welfare and emotional state.

Positive Reinforcement, enrichment, systematic desensitisation and counterconditioning are commonly used to create positive learning experiences and help animals develop more positive emotional responses to potentially challenging situations.

Animals are also trained for cooperative and voluntary husbandry and veterinary care. Rather than simply restraining an animal whenever a procedure needs to be performed, trainers can teach behaviours that allow the animal to actively participate in blood draws, injections, hoof care, weighing, medical examinations and many other necessary procedures.

Of course, this doesn't mean that modern zoos are perfect, or that every zoo and every trainer follows the same protocols. Zoos remain controversial for many reasons.

But this is the question I find fascinating:

Knowing how controversial zoos already are simply because of their existence, how long do you think they would survive in the modern world if their animals were routinely trained and handled in the same way that the majority of horses still are?

And perhaps the more important question is:

Why are we willing to apply modern behavioural science to elephants, big cats and other zoo animals… but so often resist applying the same principles when it comes to horses? 🤔

09/02/2026

08/25/2026

New research from Colorado State University is taking a closer look at the welfare of horses working in equine-assisted services (EAS).

Published in Animals, CSU researchers Jéssica Carvalho Seabra, Tanja Hess, Tessa Finnestead, and Temple Grandin evaluated EAS horses using a comprehensive approach that included behavioral observations, blood-based physiological measures, health status, and 24-hour time budgets.

One of the most encouraging findings: horses showed no difference in the frequency of pain- and stress-related behaviors when ridden by individuals with physical impairments compared with able-bodied riders.

Conducted at CSU’s Temple Grandin Equine Center, this work emphasizes the importance of evaluating the whole horse - behavior, health, management, environment, and rest - to support the horses that make equine-assisted services possible.

Congratulations to the CSU research team on this important contribution to equine welfare science!

Read it here: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/16/10/1434

08/20/2026

Survey Field Test

I am looking for people who currently care for a companion snake to help me field test a short survey instrument I developed for one of my doctoral courses. The Companion Snake Expectation Congruence Survey (CSECS) contains eight questions and should only take a few minutes to complete.

The survey asks you to think about one snake currently in your care and compare your experience living with that snake with what you expected before acquiring them. If you have more than one snake, you can choose any one snake for which you reasonably remember what you expected beforehand.

There are also three optional questions at the end where you can provide feedback about the survey questions themselves. That feedback is particularly helpful because part of this assignment involves field testing the instrument and evaluating how well the questions work.

Thank you for helping me test it!

Lori

Thank you for helping me field test this survey for a doctoral course assignment. Please answer the following statements based on your experience with one companion snake currently in your care. If you have more than one snake, please select one snake and use that same animal when answering all eigh...

08/17/2026

Touch forms the basis of attachment theory. In attachment theory, it is fundamental in terms of mental security that the need for touch is more important than the need for food.

For horses, as it is for other social species including humans, touch is soothing and because it promotes mental security, it is useful during medical procedures as well as being reinforcing in training.

Soothing touch from stroking and caressing the horse, releases oxytocin, the pleasure molecule. For this reason of attachment alone, stable designs in the future should account for he horse’s need for touch.

Horses that are kept singly often show insecure behaviour that many riders and trainers do not recognise as a consequence of separation. If horses have their hardwired need for touch filled and they can interact physically with herd-mates, many problem behaviours disappear.

In fact, the need for social contact via touch is so strong that when separated they can become very agitated and show separation anxiety. It is important to consider that this is a normal behaviour and simply shows us the strength of the bonding. In training, separation anxiety subsides as the horse develops a sense of security in their human interactions and environment, reducing the reliance on the security provided by their herdmate.

Modern Horse Training: Equitation Science Principles & Practice, Volume 1